Tag Archives: Jimmy Carter
Revisiting Humphrey Hawkins
BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from the Feehery.theory.com
On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day in 1978, the New York Times reported that the House approved by legislation, which established the official policy of the United States that the unemployment rate should be 4%. “The bill authorizes the use of fiscal and monetary policy, public service jobs, job training and counseling and all other means to achieve full employment…The legislation was supported by a coalition of labor, civil right, liberal, religious and women’s groups and was backed by President Carter.” Amendments offered by Republicans to require a balanced budget and achieve an inflation goal of 3% were rejected, and most GOPers voted against final passage of the bill, calling it an empty promise.
No October Surprise A Surprise
BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON
This summer I was convinced that in September, the Democrats would launch an election-year counter-offensive, an October surprise that would plug the drain of Democratic polling numbers and slow the slide of a lot of Democratic candidates.
Tea Party Has Elites on the Run
BY TONY BLANKLEY
Reprinted from Townhall.com
Not long after the tea party sprang into being in the spring of 2009, America ‘s elites started vilifying the movement. In an article worthy of a class-action libel suit, The New York Review of Books depicted the tea party’s first march on Washington as a parade of bigots.
Ex-president Jimmy Carter spit venom at tea partiers by saying they resented an African-American president — a baseless charge of racism willingly echoed by the media.
Doing the Dance of the Double-Standard
BY BILL GREENER
Something that frustrates me most as a conservative and a Republican is my inability to ever, and I mean ever, “win” an argument with a liberal. Just when I think they are ready to cry “Uncle,” the rules always seem to change.
Want some examples? Go to a recent “dateline” in the Sunday Washington Post magazine. Two young Capitol Hill staffers are put together. Both happen to be Jewish. They each say their faith is important to them and that they want to focus their dating among only Jews inasmuch as they have already decided whoever they eventually marry will be of their faith. The young man also says he is a liberal so it would be difficult for him to marry a “right winger.” As a person of faith myself, I actually very much respect them making this as important as they seemingly have. However, I ask you what sort of reaction we might anticipate if all that changed was that the youngsters were Evangelical Christians and that the man indicated only a person of a conservative political ideology would be a candidate for marriage? Do we think these two might be portrayed as and/or perceived to be “intolerant and close minded?” How can it be just fine for those of one faith to be “exclusive” and wrong for another faith?
You Say You Want A Devolution
BY GARY ANDRES
From the Weekly Standard
Public opinion about the appropriate role of the federal government moves like the moon cycle, causing tidal shifts in citizen attitudes and election outcomes. After watching Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress over the past year and a half, attitudes about Washington are changing again, possibly giving those who advocate devolving power to the states a political advantage in the midterm elections.
Political scientist James A. Stimson nailed the ocean metaphor in his insightful book, Tides of Consent: How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics. Stimson demonstrates that the overall public mood about government starts to run counter to victorious political parties soon after they win. For example, voters typically elect Democrats when a more liberal, pro-activist federal government sentiment hits an apex. But for the big government crowd, Election Day is about as good as it gets. Going forward, sentiment soon starts to shift in a more conservative direction.
Continue reading